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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Part One: Willow's Art Cabinet

This little cupboard used to have all of our junk in it. And we sort of threw Willow's coloring books in there too. The only problem was that ever since she could open this cabinet, she has been emptying it of all the contents. Spent way too much time on daily basis returning all our junk into the cupboard. As the months went by, things got more and more disorganized/ruined/crazy.

The last straw was when I saw Willow playing with all the spare apartment keys we kept in the cupboard. She would try to open the front door with a key--but since it doesn't work that way--she moved on to the power outlets. Instant panic. For those of you that don't know, I shocked myself horribly as a toddler by sticking a key into an outlet. So, as soon as I took the keys away from Willow, I started finding new homes for all our junk cabinet items.

And made it into Willow's cabinet instead. There's a bit more stuff in there now, since we inherited some more coloring books, notebooks and crayons last week.

Part Two: Willow's Big Girl Bedroom

The saga of the guest room. It seems like everything we try to do to this room...sort of...goes wrong.

First Problem: The paint. We painted this room fairly quickly. In a few hours. But in a few sections, the paint refuses to adhere. It peels off in huge patches and we can't figure out how to fix it. We've tried a few times, and it continues to peel.

Eventually Willow's toy chest will be in the corner, instead of this shelving unit.

Second problem: The bunk bed. It took a week to set up because the wrong pieces were in the box. This has happened to us once before with IKEA. We had to wait a week for IKEA to deliver the correct pieces.

Still have to hang a banner on this wall and mount a mirror. The chair will not normally be there either.

Eventually, I want to make this a reading nook for Willow

Eventually, these draws in the nightstand will be filled with Willow's stuff.

I bought new black fabric and had the tailor sew black-out curtains for both of the children's bedrooms. When the blackout curtains are closed, hardly any sunlight/streetlight comes into the room. Which is great, since the sun rises around 4am in the summer.

You can see the paint peeling off under this shelf.

Where does the sidewalk end? I'm not sure, but we didn't find it on the Great Wall.

Isn't this a cute purse? The "J" stands for "Julie". Not "Johnson". Yes...this was my purse as a 16 or 17 year old. I paid big bucks for it at Marshall Fields, and now Willow plays with it. Life is ironic.

Eventually, this will be her dress-up corner. We'll hang a mirror to cover up the peeling wall, and put all her dress up pieces in a basket or hanging from these low hooks.

Anyway....this is just a little bit that's been going on in our home. I didn't take pictures of all the gross, disgusting things I've been scrubbing and cleaning, and scrubbing and vacuuming, and disinfecting. Because those are just disgusting. It is shocking how dirty the surfaces of our apartment get....just from the AIR!!!!

A few weeks ago, Adam was finally able to finish assembling Willow's bunk bed. One reason we decided to go with a bunk bed is so that we can still have room for guests. These beds have an added advantage--it can be set up as a bunk bed, or unstacked to be two twin beds.

Willow enjoyed 'helping' Adam. The challenge was to keep her out of the room while Adam was working. She just loves her dad so much, and she loves to help out.

She also loves her kitty cat. This cat is with her ALL. THE. TIME.

Willow likes to lounge in bed and play with the iPad or read books. She's a silly one year old. This is where Adam's mom will be staying--can't believe she'll be here in two days! :)

Monday, April 22, 2013

I should have taken a "Before" picture that displayed how much Willow had colored on these chairs with permanent ink. It's also really hard to keep white leather clean--especially after Willow ripped the plastic protectors off all four chairs! So, we borrowed a staple gun and used some extra fabric I had in the closet from covering the pillows and bookshelves. I feel like this fabric is everywhere now--but at least I didn't have to go out and buy anything!

Cutting out fabric, ironing it, and then working with Adam to staple them onto each seat cover. I like how there are Chinese characters on the bias of the fabric.

Willow was very disturbed during the stapling process and required lots of hugs. It's hard to staple and pull fabric tight with a one year old hanging on your arms! But now we have one more item checked off my list. I've been meaning to do this for nearly half a year! Nesting is productive.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

It's that point where the play basically consumes my brain. All I can think about is everything that needs to be done. I write lots of lists. I freak out because everything on the list can only be accomplished while at school. But I'm only at school when I'm directing rehearsals. So how are these tasks to be accomplished in time?

The oxen are dying!!!--we have to throw out the piano, the books, the fashionable dresses. There's only space for the dried pork and cornmeal. We'll have to keep the seeds for spring planting next year, but please, please, please, throw out the hat boxes and the parasols.

I have to settle something with myself. This play might not meet my highest hopes. It might surpass my expectations, but it might not be as grand as I dream.

There's problems. Like how to get the wrinkles out of the backdrop? How to block the backstage on stage right--because it's so visible to everyone on house right.

Why oh why couldn't I find top hats?

Will the last set wall be painted in time?

We need more make-up help!

Ticket sales....grrr.....need to sell more.

More and more, I feel like this might be my last play to direct. Who knows what the future holds, but doing this as a sole director is just too difficult for me. I don't like my 'job' to get in the way of my current role as a mom. It stresses me out to feel conflict of priorities. I spend so much time on the play that I miss out on Willow. And even though I need to work on the play now, I wonder if I will regret it someday.

Anyway, if I ever make it to Oregon---it will be interesting. There are still some rivers to ford, and some cholera to overcome. Might even get bit by a snake along the way. Just trying to keep the oxen alive.

Friday, April 19, 2013

It's hard to believe that I'm six months pregnant! It some ways, six months have flown by. But then I remind myself that it's basically half a year. I have yet another sinus infection. I feel like at least one of us has been sick since 2013 began. We always have someone who is ill! Stomach flu, chest colds, sinus infections, fevers....The worse part is that we no longer have any medicine that I can take while pregnant. So I just have to suffer through with hot tea and lots of kleenex.

Today, we received our first gift for the baby. Some booties and lotion from one of Adam's students.

I have yet to buy something for our baby. As far as clothing is concerned, I don't really understand how to dress a boy. Which styles....? I was also wondering, to mothers with boys, what board books/children's books you've enjoyed reading with your sons? Willow's books are pretty girly.

This is from the 3D ultra sound I was able to get on Thursday. What a fun experience! Willow had to come along. She got car sick on the way there and vomited on us + the car. She made friends with the nurses and doctors, and one of the ultra sound technicians let her punch around on the computer and draw on her note pad while I was getting my ultra sound. The lady was very kind and gracious to allow for Willow's antics.

Heard for the 3rd time that this baby is most likely a boy--so that's what we'll go with!

I'm praying for this baby's safe development and arrival. Also praying that he and Willow will be great friends for their whole lives.

My back pain has been the worst 'symptom' for the last few months. Usually can't walk by 7:00 or 8:00 in the evening. It's hard to get comfortable to sleep and know it's only going to get worse.

Adam's mom will be here next week, and the following weekend is the play performances. Nesting is still underway. Today I finished washing and ironing our couch cushions, cleaned out the oven and the microwave, and tomorrow I'm going to spot clean the carpet again. I have to do this literally every m

Friday, April 12, 2013

Came home one day to find that Willow and Adam both wearing flannel. Dressed to match....on purpose. They are cute and funny. And they look a lot alike to me. Willow loves her dad so much it's hard to explain. And I think he feels the same way about her. :)

Thursday, April 4, 2013

We had our surplus sale--and rid ourselves of many pounds of 'junk'. Stuff that we never used and no longer needed. Gone. Yay!

I wish I could show a picture of the physical change--but it's hard to document that sort of thing when one's closet doesn't really allow for pictures. Let's just say that before the closet had gotten into a big mess (mostly because we had too much), and NOW we can actually walk in the closet. After our sale, the left-overs were still getting picked over by friends and our house helper. Finally, got rid of everything and were able to put everything we were keeping back in the closet. It looks so much better--but mostly, I'm relieved that there's extra space again.

The bed in the guest room was [finally] removed. After asking our landlord for about three months, he finally agreed to remove the bed. So that's gone. It was an amazing experience. The moving men came--but only one guy (probably in his 50's) moved the bed. He had it out of our apartment in five minutes. He was so fast, I was in shock! He was also extremely tiny--so I was amazed that he could carry everything that he did. The moving men here are insanely capable of carrying impossible loads--they are like sherpas. Also, he managed not to wake Willow up, with all his hollering and yelling. So, it was two miracles in five minutes.

Vacuumed the walls and ceilings.
Washed and ironed the curtains.
Scrubbed the floor, baseboards, and window.
Painted.
Bought new furniture and rug.
Assembled furniture.
Bought a new blackout curtain and shower rod from which to hang it.
Emptied the wardrobe.
Had new pillow cases made for Willow's future reading corner.

Still need to do a few things to this room, but I'm hoping that I'll get it accomplished in May or perhaps in September. I want to perhaps hang a girly curtain on a shower curtain rod (between the bed and wardrobe) so that Willow can open and close the curtains and make a little fort/reading tent. I also want to buy some hooks to hang low enough on the wall for Willow to hang her dress up clothes and purses from.

Still need to get some new pictures printed and framed for the walls.

As far as Willow's old room that she'll be using until we return in September--I think the only thing we have to change is the curtains and new diaper changing pad covers (since Willow's are very girly).

This is the stroller that I'm interested in purchasing. I had a dream last night that I was taking a ride in this stroller and my mom was pushing it. Weird.

I have some extra fabric that I've inherited and I'm having the tailor make some cute little dresses for Willow. I guess this is what happens when I watch too much project runway.

Making this pillow by hand sucks. I want a sewing machine!

Looking at pictures from when I was this far along with Willow. Trying to decide if I look the same size or not. Trying to imagine flying in several weeks.

Johnson Family

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this is [me]

I live in Shenyang, China. I'm married to Adam, the love of my life. Our daughter, Willow Rose, was born on July 8, 2011. She is an energetic and loving girl. Our son, Noah Silas was born on August 7, 2013. He is a cool dude, with a peaceful vibe. I used to teach 3rd grade and direct secondary drama productions at Shenyang International School. Now, I enjoy the role of a stay-at-home-mom. Adam teaches middle school science and sponsors student council at SYIS. Here is one place where our life can be shared and remembered.